Structured

Systems Analysis
 Managing Requirements
• Text requirements can be extracted
from diagrams.
• The diagram structure can also be
used to organize text requirements.
• Be sure to create traceability from
diagrams to text requirements
 Data flow diagrams
• Depict the flow of data and its
transformation. Through
decomposition, greater detail is
revealed and documented in layers of
DFDs.
• A numbering system is used to
hierarchically relate the process
layers.
• Data stores are also numbered so they
can be traced to data models.
• There are four diagram components:
 Processes
• have at least one input and one
output.
• The process is usually symbolized by
a "bubble" or similar figure.
• The process is what transforms the
data. Functional primitives are at
the lowest level of the DFDs and
can be decomposed no further. You
know you have gone past the
functional primitive when the result
sounds like program logic (if, then;
 Data stores
• are used to represent data structures
or logical data files. They are
often represented as open-ended
shapes.
 External entities
• Represent interfaces external to the
system. These are often
represented as a small shape, such
as a diamond.
• Eg Suppliers, Customers
 Data flows
• represent the exchange of data
between processes, processes and
data stores, and processes and
external entities.
• The direction of the data flow defines
how data flows through the system.
• Data flow direction is represented by
arrows.
 dataflow diagram
• one of the three major graphical
modeling tools of structured
analysis:
• The dataflow diagram is a modeling
tool that allows us to picture a
system as a network of
functional processes, connected
to one another by “pipelines” and
“holding tanks” of data.
•
 synonyms for dataflow
diagram:
• Bubble chart
• DFD
• Bubble diagram
• Process model (or business process
model)
• “A picture of what’s going on around
here”

 The dataflow diagram
• one of the most commonly used
systems-modeling tools, particularly
for operational systems in which the
functions of the system are of
paramount importance and more
complex than the data that the
system manipulates.


• Notation had been borrowed from

earlier papers on graph theory, and
it continues to be used as a
convenient notation by software
engineers concerned with direct
implementation of models of user
In the above example ….
• all the requirements belong under the
parent 1.4.3.3: The system shall
process payment returns and
adjustments (in a separate DFD, not
shown).
• The parent is compound and should be
reworded.
• However, if you have limited resources,
focus on the functional primitives
because they are critical to the
subsequent development phases.
• In backward traceability, if all the
children are satisfied, the
compound parent will be satisfied--
if all of the parent is planned for
implementation at the same time
during the project.
• If it is not, you will have traceability
problems.
Structured Analysis
Tom deMarco
 Data Flow Modeling
• This is the process of identifying,
modeling and documenting how
data moves around an information
system.
•
• Data Flow Modeling examines
processes (activities that transform
data from one form to another), data
stores (the holding areas for data),
external entities (what sends data
into a system or receives data from a
system), and data flows (routes by
 Analysis of the current
system

• Also known as: feasibility stage.

• Analyze the current situation at a
high level.
• A Data Flow Diagram (DFD) is used
to describe how the current system
works and to visualize known
problems.
•
 Investigate current
processing
• It investigates the information flow
associated with the services
currently provided, and describes
them in the form of Data Flow
Model.
• At this point, the Data Flow
Model represents the current
services with all their
deficiencies.
• No attempt is made to incorporate
Appropriate Process
Name
Data Store
External Entity
 Process Names
•
• CALCULATE MISSILE TRAJECTORY
• PRODUCE INVENTORY REPORT
• VALIDATE PHONE NUMBER
• ASSIGN STUDENTS TO CLASS

 Process Names ?
• DO STUFF
• MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
• NON-MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
• HANDLE INPUT
• TAKE CARE OF CUSTOMERS
• PROCESS DATA
• GENERAL EDIT

 Process Names to avoid
• DO STUFF
• MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
• NON-MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS
• HANDLE INPUT
• TAKE CARE OF CUSTOMERS
• PROCESS DATA
• GENERAL EDIT
•
 Logical Data Modeling
• This is the process of identifying,
modeling and documenting the
data requirements of the system
being designed.
•
• The data are separated into entities
(things about which a business
needs to record information) and
relationships (the associations
between the entities).
 Entity Relationship
Diagram
•
•   Entity Relationship Diagram is a
specialized graphic that illustrates
the interrelationships between
entities in a database.
 Entity Relationship
Diagram
• | One-to-one Relationship ]
•
• [ One-to-many Relationship
•
• | Many-to-many Relationship
 Flowchart vs. Data Flow
Diagram (DFD)
My employer asked me to create a flowchart in


the submission of list of on-going classes

(LOGC). I decided to use a data flow diagram
(DFD) instead of a flowchart. When I presented
my work, she liked my diagram but she
preferred a flowchart rather than a DFD.
I thought it was just a communication problem.
However, I realized that using a DFD in
describing processes was easier to
understand compared to flowcharts.
What do you think? Are flowcharts obsolete?
Posted: 07/09/2008 @ 06:05 AM (PDT) Tech
Republic Blog
Flowchart differs from Data
Flow Diagram -
Flowchart: using it when you want to


describe steps of process done in

sequence.


Data Flow Diagram: using it when you



want to describe the relations and

process between data, actions.

So Flowchart and DFD have different

meaning and used in different ways.
Posted: 07/23/2008 @ 06:39 AM (PDT)